Unfinished symphony: fighting for Cork School of Music

A new home for the Cork School of Music was to form the centrepiece of the city's tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2005, but there is now no chance of this happening. The Government will soon decide on the future of this prestigious project, writes Liam Reid.

The proposed new Cork School of Music (CSM) project has acquired an almost mythical status. Like the Metro and the National Stadium, it has become one of those projects, born during the boom, but now stuck in a limbo of political indecision. Politicians appear unwilling to cut their losses on these projects, yet are unwilling to sanction the potentially astronomical costs of proceeding with them.

Unlike the Metro and National Stadium however, the delay in sanctioning the new CSM has discommoded 3,500 pupils and upwards of 100 staff, who are shuttling between no less than 16 different sites around the city.

The future of the project is to be decided over the next few weeks. And even if the Government decides to abandon the current proposals, the likelihood is that the whole adventure will still have cost the Exchequer at least €15 million.

It is now four years since a review into the needs of the school began, and in that space of time it has mushroomed from a modest €13.3 million project into one which could ultimately cost the Exchequer €200 million.

Plans for a revamp of the CSM began in 1999, while a sympathetic Cork TD, Micheál Martin, was in the Department of Education. The 110-year-old school, which became part of the Cork Institute of Technology in 1993, had outgrown its premises, which were built in 1956. The redbrick building was also in a bad state of repair and was simply unable to accommodate the needs of a modern music school.

A review of the school's needs recommended refurbishment and extension of the existing building. The estimated cost of the revamp was in the region of €13.3 million.

At that time the Department of Education was also examining the funding of capital projects, and decided to use Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) on a pilot basis for a number of projects.

The extension/refurbishment of CSM was chosen as one of the pilot projects, and an "Invitation to Negotiate" was advertised in the European Journal. The Department received three detailed proposals.

All three proposals said it would be uneconomical to extend and refurbish the existing building. They all recommended the demolition of the 1956 building and the construction of a new state-of-the-art home for the school.

In March 2001, Jarvis, a British-based firm with experience in PPPs was selected as the preferred bidder.

At this stage, however, concerns began to emerge about the potential cost of the project. The original PPP refurbishment/extension project envisaged a capital cost of €13.3 million. However under the proposed new PPP contract, Jarvis would build the school at a cost of €58.8 million. It would also assume responsibility for operating and maintaining the building over a 25-year period. In return, the State would pay Jarvis €8.2 million a year. The total cost to the Exchequer over a period of 25 years would be €200 million.

The proposed building was impressive - 13,000 sq metres of space, including a 500-seat flexible auditorium, 55 individual tuition rooms each with a Steinway piano as well as audio-visual, dance and drama facilities.

While Jarvis proceeded to lodge a planning application for the school, the Department of Education decided that the school should move out of its premises and into rented accommodation, confident the project would receive Government sanction.

The Department of Finance continued to be concerned about the €58 million capital cost, which compared with original estimates of between €30 million and €40 million.

Another issue arose that complicated matters even further. The European Union had decided that PPPs in relation to schools should be counted as borrowing in Exchequer returns, that is treated it like a mortgage. While this might appear a mere statistical matter, its effects were profound. The Government's level of borrowing is seriously constrained by the Growth and Stability Pact among members of the Euro zone. The inclusion of PPPs, especially a €200 million one, could seriously skew the Irish Exchequer returns. The Irish Government has argued against this interpretation, but while the matter is outstanding, it placed a serious question mark over the project continuing as a PPP.

Jarvis itself ran into difficulties with the project, when planning permission was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by An Taisce. The planning issues were finally resolved in early 2002.

Unfortunately for the music school, the economic environment had worsened considerably by that stage. This harsher exchequer climate, coupled with the question mark in Europe over PPPs led to the Government delaying approval of the school indefinitely.

That doubt has continued, and with the failure to resolve the budgetary issue surrounding PPPs, the Government has been unwilling to either shelve or proceed with the plans. The Government is due to decide by next month on the future of CSM, following a review of PPPs.

In the meantime the school has been using 16 different buildings around Cork since early 2001, paying rent of €1.6 million to date.

This huge disruption, along with the lack of clarity on the future of the school has already led to one day of industrial action by staff.

Further planned industrial action was suspended following a meeting last month with education officials, who gave assurances that the department was committed to the school and resolving the accommodation problems. Staff have given a deadline of the end of this month for a decision by Government on the future of the school.

If the State does decide to scrap the PPP proposal, it could face a significant bill from Jarvis, which says it has spent more than €11 million on design, engineering and planning costs to date.

A number of options are being considered as alternatives to the PPP proposal. These include reverting back to plans to refurbish and extend the existing building. Another option would be for the State to proceed with the construction of a new school.

Whatever happens, department officials stress that the Government is committed to the future of the school, and that the accommodation issue will be resolved.

However, with any building or refurbishment expected to take at least two years, staff and students can expect to be shuttling between temporary accommodation till at least the end of 2005.

It will mean that the School of Music will be homeless in the year that the city becomes European Capital of Culture. The city will almost certainly be without the flagship project it had hoped would form the centrepiece of their celebrations.